In general, radio frequency identification (RFID) involves an exchange of radio frequency (RF) signals between an RFID interrogation system and a mobile RFID device for identification and/or tracking purposes. The RFID interrogation system typically includes a transceiver, which is commonly called an RFID reader, and a controller. When the mobile RFID device which is commonly called an RFID tag moves within range of the RFID reader, the RFID tag receives power in a wireless manner from the RFID reader. While the RFID tag receives such power, the controller is able to write data to and read data from the RFID tag through the RFID reader.
An example of an RFID tag is an electronic product code (EPC) tag (or label) which accompanies a shipping item within a supply chain. At various points along the supply chain, RFID readers communicate with the EPC tag to help identify and track the location of the shipping item.
EPCglobal is a consortium of governing/corporate-style entities involved in standardizing and promoting widespread use of EPC technology. One such standard is EPCglobal UHF Class 1 Gen 2 (commonly referred to as the “Gen 2” standard) which is an air interface protocol.